Some skills are harder for others to get and for me I have a few, but Double-Unders have proved especially harder for me to master. At times I have looks of pain and agony on my face because I get lashes from the damn rope on my arms, butt, legs. In my Christmas card letter this year I had this line, ” Sweat drops that fall on my nose and eyelashes, Jump ropes that give me some s&m lashes”. Only a few got the “s&m” lashes, but I thought it was funny and so true. I used to avoid the things in Crossfit that were hard for me, now I’ve learned from coaches and others to use those hard things and work on them. We all have things to work on, some just more than others.
Leading up to 14.1 my year had been off to a rough start. From the sugar detox to a few personal trials I hadn’t been in the box as much as I should have been leading up to the open. I wasn’t going to do it, because I knew I wasn’t as prepared as I should be. A friend told me to do it that it would be a good practice for my big goals down the line, so last-minute I registered. I didn’t do much different from I would usually do except I did have a little extra coffee in a protein shake but that was an hour and half before the workout. Have you ever taken a Pre-WOD that has a strong stimulant in it?! Wow! My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, I was seeing black spots and having a hard time catching my breath. But, I kept pushing hard to get through those 10 minutes which felt like an hour!
If you’d ask me to dissect my 14.1 it would be a messy, messy project! My jump rope skills have always been something I have struggled with. I was that kid on the playground with two left feet, always tripping over myself. The kids used to make fun of me and call me Giant because I grew at any early age and had an adult size body and feet when I was in 4th and 5th grade. A: I had a hard time “double-dutching” because I was too tall for the rope, B: I had no coordination on the ground, in the pool was another story! Okay, so the double-unders are something I keep practicing but I don’t get, so I did 100 singles instead of the 30. The snatches are hard too, because I hadn’t been doing barbel work It was hard to get more than two or three consecutively. But, I gave all I had to give that Friday morning for the first 14.1. I ended up only getting 1 full round and then 105 reps. After resting over the weekend, I decided just to work on double-unders in my garage Monday morning instead of re-doing my 14.1. My rope feels a little heavy so yesterday, I order a lighter rope RxSmart Gear, I was able to get discontinued colors for cheap. =)
Yesterday, March 4th I went into the box and set up with the intention of doing a full workout but got there later and ran out of time. I am not used to doing it on my own, but surprisingly I really enjoyed getting after it and doing what I could on my own. The box that I am going to now said they are actually there all morning in between class times, so I will be able to plan better going forward. Since I haven’t had my consult with my new coach I decided to look up my old boxes WOD and do that. I took what I had learned from my other coach and figured out a good warm up based on that workout. A lesson learned is to get a small white board for my gym bag-the new box doesn’t have them. Actually I mad a few today card stock and a laminator..lol! Second lesson I learned is to get everything I’ll need set up first before I start my warm-ups because that way I am ready to go and can move more efficiently.
In the short time I had available this is what I did: 750m row, stretching, and then worked up to 105# Dead Lift. The coach noticed my bad habit with my knees and had me use a band around my knees to help keep them pushed out. I had seen my friend Talayna use one in the box before but I never really understood the importance of it. After trying it with my warm-ups I found that it really helped to push my knees out. Not understanding the wording of the workout written on my old box’s website, I made an adjustment and did an EMOM.
So my short and sweet workout was:
5-7 Minute EMOM for 5 reps of TNG Dead Lifts at 105#s.
I ended up doing 6 rounds. I really concentrated on my breathing, keeping the bar close, and keeping my knees out.
14.2 announcement is tonight across the Alligator Alley from me, I am sure tickets are probably sold out–but it would be so fun to go and watch my friend Talayna. I’ll be watching from home and cheering in spirit. Going forward I will take each workout as it comes and as a learning experience. The only way to get better is to keep practicing and trying to do my best! For Lent this year I was going to give up something, but that just seemed so negative–instead I am going to add something. For every meal and snack I am going to add protein! I know I don’t eat enough of it, so I am going to have whole food sources of protein every meal and snack and track the food and protein I eat. Right now I only eat about a 1,000 calories on a good day and on a bad day I eat way more than the allowed calories. So, I will eat protein and try to stay full and satisfied!
Be great today in all you do! Here’s a fun Poll to see what your Pre-WOD routine is! I love the Nutriforce Natural NA I take this sometimes during and almost always after my workouts. It isn’t too sweet and has a nice grapeish taste. Thanks!
Anchor of Strength 